Discuss the Politics, Economics, and Events of the New New York 23rd Congressional District (Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, (Eastern) Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins, and Yates Counties)

Mayday PAC raises money to back campaign finance reform minded candidates. Here is what they say about their plans:

We launched two crowdfunded campaigns. We met our first $1M goal in only 13 days. That $1M was matched by technology entrepeneurs from all sides of the political debate. In June, we set an even larger $5M goal, which over 48,500 of you stepped forward to meet.

Now the hard part: We’re picking key Congressional districts and will independently support reform-minded candidates in their efforts to remove opponents who defend the ways of DC. We will not only win those races, but do it in a way that it is clear to all observers that the issue of corruption turned the tide of the election.

It’s an interesting idea. It is slightly disturbing that Mayday would invest relatively large amounts of money from outside the targeted district to influence the vote. I object to this when the money comes from other PACs, from the Koch brothers for example.

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About whungerford

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Contributor at NewNY23rd.com where we discuss the politics, economics, and events of the New New York 23rd Congressional District (Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, (Eastern) Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben,Tioga, Tompkins, and Yates Counties) Please visit and comment on whatever strikes your fancy.

4 Responses to Mayday PAC

This is the worrisome line: ” A type of independent PAC, super PACs enable contributors – including corporations, unions and individuals – to donate unlimited amounts of money to these political fundraising organizations without full public disclosure.” Who decides where Mayday PAC’s money will go?

I’m funding a person who has repeatedly announced she will fight for campaign finance reform, and I’m watching my dollars in action locally. However, the poorer, gerrymandered, and voter restricted states, where the majority of people need drastic change in political leadership, may benefit from Mayday PAC. It depends on the targeting of this group.

There are a lot of decisions that we have made that we’ve gotten push-back (to put it politely) on. But the push-back that’s surprised me most has been about fundraising. As I wrote just after we crossed the $5M mark, we were shifting into campaign mode. The fundraising was finished.

“Why?,” a friend asked. “You’ve gathered the most committed citizens in America on this issue. Why not at least ask them for the help you’ll need?”

The answer isn’t obvious. And I’ll admit, it may just be me. As I’ve experienced the life of online campaigns, over time, it feels to me as if I’m just a funder. And worse, the more I give, the more I get asked.

I wanted to try something different with MAYDAY — a campaign where we keep you informed and ask for your help. But not one in which we ask — constantly — for you to give us money.

But I may be wrong, and as more have pushed back, I’ve decided we should let you decide — individually — whether our asking you for money is something you’d rather we didn’t do.

So here’s the idea:
Click here and we’ll put you on our DO NOT ASK list. That means we won’t ask you for money, though we’ll keep you informed about our work and about the campaigns (and we may ask for non-financial help). Of course, you’re still free to give. We’re pretty sure though that you can find the website if you want to. We just won’t send you emails with requests to contribute. That choice will be up to you.

If you don’t click here, then the emails we send you will SOMETIMES include an ask for financial support. As races get close, or if a new opportunity arises, we may come to you again. Of course, that’s not all we’ll come to you with — you’ll get all the regular news as well. But we won’t be as careful to exclude requests for funding.

Either way, on every email we’ll give you a link to change your DO NOT ASK preference. So at any time you can opt out, or opt in.
Soon, we’ll have an option for you to give recurring donations. Then you can support our work as much (or as little) as you’d like on a monthly basis without our encouragement in the form of a fundraising email.

I’m eager to see how this experiment works. (If you like it, tweet about it? (Or give one last time!)). And as always, I am happy to read your feedback.